Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Could Be the MOST Aggressive Team in NFL Free Agency

Starting point is 00:00:00 When's the last time you heard the Cincinnati Bengals might be the most aggressive team of the NFL at doing anything, not to mention going after free agents. Let's get into it. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day and the number one sports podcast network in the land. He's James Rapine. I'm Jake Liscoe, and we are locked on Bengals, and we have been going all the way back to 2016, making us your best one-stop shop for all things Bengals anywhere on the internet. And today on Free Agency Eve, we record our final pre-free agency episode as the new league year is right around the corner, James.

Starting point is 00:00:57 And we've got reporting from national level reporters from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that the Bengals might be the most aggressive team in Free Agency. defense. We'll dive into what that could mean and what that does mean and how that aligns with what we've been talking about, what we've been hearing. We'll get into some free agency plans and a set of players that could make sense to return the Bengals to contention where they haven't been for the last few years. Welcome back to everyone who's an every day or by the way and all of you who make Locked on Bengals your first listen. Glad to have you with us here as we get into, honestly, the most exciting time of year, a lot of times before the football season arrives anyway.

Starting point is 00:01:38 And one of the times that we see some of our biggest audience numbers, so appreciate everyone who's here with us during this exciting week of the off season. And if you're new to the show, there are a couple things that I want to tell you about here before we get started. First is the Everydayer Club. We actually have a promo going on right now for the Everydayer Club. You can check out all the details at LockdownBengals. that supercast.com and you'll have a chance to get a month free if you join before March 15th

Starting point is 00:02:06 with promo code free agency. We've also got the Lockdown Bengals Insider Group, which is a direct text subscription where we will text you to your phone. Don't have to be on social media and all those things to see what's going on. We will keep you up to date. You can check out those details at join subtext.com slash lockdown Bengals. James. Let's dive into the report from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. I don't know that I've ever seen these words written about the Cincinnati Bengals in all of my time of following this team. The team that could prove most aggressive on the defensive free agent market is Cincinnati, which is exploring just about every position group. We've obviously been talking about this for several days. Now weeks, maybe even the

Starting point is 00:02:48 expectations that the Bengals will be active at multiple levels of this defense. But when you saw that this morning, what were your first thoughts? Yeah. That's, the expectation. And I know that's going to surprise a lot of people. I, I, I, I, I, I, you get Joe Burrow at UFC 326 or whatever it was and he gives a thumbs up. Then he makes a funny face. Uh, yeah, he was watching fights on Saturday night. You know what he's going to be watching noon on Monday? Uh, what the Bengals do in free agency. And, and, and that's it. Like I, I, I just know through various conversations throughout the building, what the expectation is. And they know, like when, when, when Jamal, like, when Jamar, like, when,

Starting point is 00:03:27 I went back and just kind of like looked at quotes from December and January. He's like, we know what we need to fix. He's talking about the defense, ladies and gentlemen. He might not say that. He might not be like, man, we've got to fix this stupid linebacker position in these past rushers and find a safety that doesn't throw his shoulder into everyone like Gino Stone does. I heard he was working on his shoulder thrust this offseason. So those may be better for whatever team he ends up with, but it certainly won't be in Cincinnati.

Starting point is 00:03:55 But like, I think. it surprised you a bit more than it surprised me, not from a, we know they're going to add because we've heard the same thing. And I think it's from different people. And usually when that happens, that gives you an idea that, yeah, they are going to add in free agency. So that's what I think is most important about this. Who knows who Jeremy's hearing this from, right? Probably not the same people I'm talking to or the same people you're talking to. And so if we're all hearing similar things like this and Jeremy is comfortable enough to write most aggressive, then you know the Bengals are certainly, they have big plans. Now they have to put those plans into action.

Starting point is 00:04:34 It's one thing to talk it. It's another thing to get it done. But it is refreshing to see and to see at this level. And for Jeremy to be that comfortable, I do, I don't want to pretend that isn't significant because it is. And this is, how do I put this? In fact, I told this to our insider group, join subtext.com slash lockdown bangles. Right. Nailed it. Told them, I don't know, earlier this week. I know there are people that are looking at this offseason in general, not just free agency, this offseason. And obviously the coaches know that their jobs are on the line.

Starting point is 00:05:13 But like a half decade is on the line. Because if you stink it up this off season and you have a failure when it comes to the talent acquisition part of it, and then you're bad again or you're not good enough again, you're not in contention mode, think about all of the new things that could be coming their way and not just coaches, players, personnel, all of those things that could change. And maybe it is Joe Burrell, right? Like a lot of those things will change and not in a good way if you suck again. You cannot do that. You have to fix it. It's been three years now where this defense hasn't been up to par. The past two years have been embarrassingly bad. And they know it. And so it should be,

Starting point is 00:05:57 I would be encouraged right now if you're an everydayer and you're listening or you're someone that doesn't listen all the time. And you're like, I want to get my Bengals fixed now eight weeks after the seasons ended. There's reason to believe the Bengals are going to make noteworthy additions that are going to help fix this defense. And they have to get it done. But I think they're expecting to address their defense in a big, big way this week, which is exciting. Yeah, and that's what we've been telling folks, like you said, for a while. here. This is what we've been hearing since at least the combine. That's

Starting point is 00:06:31 been what our expectation has been since before the combine. We'll see if they figure out some of these extensions for their internal guys later on in the soft season. Maybe they surprise us in the next 24 hours. We're recording this. Sunday, early afternoon, Eastern time, about

Starting point is 00:06:47 23 hours before the open of the legal negotiating window here. But the expectation is that most of their cash that they're going to spend this offseason is going to go to external guys the way last year went to Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and a little bit of extra money went to Trey Hendrickson, which we don't need to rehash now if you're here to hear us talk about Max Crosby and

Starting point is 00:07:10 Trey Hendrickson. Well, we talked about Trey plenty over the last few weeks and yes, not a whole lot of time to talk about what another team is doing today as we're trying to get ready for what the Bengals are doing. But what strikes me about this Jeremy Fowler quote that I read earlier, James, is not so much it is surprising, right? Like we've been talking about this for a few weeks now. Like you said, we're hearing it from different people. Jeremy's probably hearing it from still different people. Maybe not.

Starting point is 00:07:37 Maybe there's some overlap there. Probably some disparate sources going on, though. Who knows? I just don't, like, there's something existentially surprising about seeing those words written about the Bengals, right? Just knowing this team and having seen what they've, done over the years that we've been covering them, they've gone into free agency and they've been, I don't know if aggressive is quite the word, but active and strategic is probably the way

Starting point is 00:08:08 that they would put it with some of the signings they had in 2020, 2020, 2021 and over the years to try to get this defense going in the first place. But the reason they're in this position is because they tried to address all these spots where they previously filled in free agency by drafting. and some of those draft picks took too long to come along or aren't making quite the impact that they needed those guys to make. And so a big part of sustaining this thing is even if they get free agency right this year is going to be figuring it out in the draft and finding premier talent now that they're picking near the top of the round here and not a great draft class to be doing it,

Starting point is 00:08:45 but finding those next pieces, those next cornerstones in the draft as well, that's going to be a big piece here. But if you're going to be aggressive, what does that mean for the best? Bengals is a question that I think some people are asking. Does it mean Jalen Phillips or does it mean Kingsley and Iqbari and Joseph Osai or Arden Key? Does it mean that they're actually playing at the top of the market for certain positions? Jeremy Fowler specifically mentioned the Bengals really potentially being interested near the top of the market at safety. Maybe that's a position where they spend a little bit more. Maybe defensive line is where they're going to spend a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:09:24 defensive line is certainly going to be more expensive per player just because of the cost of a safety versus a defensive lineman. So where they choose to be aggressive, what aggression looks like for the Cincinnati Bengals, because I know we've seen it in the insider group and people responding to us on the subtext, James. People are saying, still, I'll believe it when I see it. And it's hard to blame folks for that the way the last couple of off seasons have gone this year, not just big to show those fans that the Bengals know what they're doing. and are trying to rebuild this defense and get it right by spending money, but also, like you said, for the coaching staff, this coaching for their jobs, for the players that are closely watching what's going on here, big, big offseason for this front office.

Starting point is 00:10:08 And let's dive into, first, what we think aggression would look like for the Bengals, James. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on that one. And second, we'll get into some plans, some ideas of what some groups of free agents could look like for this team that could make a difference coming up next. workplace chaos, deadlines stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have is still sitting open. That's where Indeed comes in. Indeed is going to answer and help you find the right hire. This is a job for Indeed, sponsor jobs.

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Starting point is 00:11:26 Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Jake, aggressiveness to me, you have to address all three levels of the defense with starters, right? So that means whatever they add at safety needs to be good enough.

Starting point is 00:11:48 Alongside Jordan battle, you can say, hey, we can go out there on September 7th or whenever they're going to open and be good. Whatever they add at linebacker, if that's it from a defensive standpoint at linebacker, you're good. You can roll with that person and Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter.

Starting point is 00:12:07 And those are easy because really you could say, all right, well, one here and one here, and you could roll with those guys from a significant addition on defense. That doesn't mean you don't need to fill out a special team or here, there, all those things. But from a defensive standpoint, and then you get to the defensive front. And this is where it's interesting because,

Starting point is 00:12:27 You got Duke Tobin saying past rush is King, we know they've been in on defensive tackles the past couple of years in the draft. It hasn't worked out from a getting the Walter Nolans, getting some of those Kenneth Grant they really liked. And so they don't have that. John Franklin Myers is really the only defensive tackle you look at and say, all right, well, that can be a real game changer in the middle of your defense

Starting point is 00:12:56 or hopefully could be a game changer in the middle of your defense. There's no clear-cut star defensive tackle that you can go get. And so I look at it and I'm like, okay, well, I'm not going to say Franklin Myers are bust because I think that's a very dangerous game to play in free agency, especially when you're talking about a guy who's going on 30. But if Osai signs elsewhere, which I just sort of expect, maybe it doesn't happen, maybe they get him back, but I just sort of expect him to get a decent deal elsewhere. this is where the aggression is going to really matter to me because I think they need two edges

Starting point is 00:13:30 and they need a defensive tackle that they think can give them some juice as a pass rusher. And that's it. So you're talking about three defensive linemen. Like it's easy to find a safety that could work. It's easy to find a linebacker that could work and still be open in the draft. But the defensive line room is so lean. And it's Shamar, it's Miles, it's BJ, it's T's. And then after that, it's like, okay, well, yeah, you have Chris Jenkins Jr.

Starting point is 00:14:00 And McKinley Jackson and Cedrick Johnson. None of those guys shouldn't block anything. I want three defensive linemen. And that's where it is. Like if you're considered the most aggressive team in free agency, that would be it. Now, that doesn't mean big money deals and huge contracts for three defensive linemen. But like starter level players that if you needed to line up with two edges and a defensive tackle, those guys could start. That's what I'm looking for.

Starting point is 00:14:25 I wonder what it means to them. That's what it means to us. I wonder what it means to them. Because if this is coming from team side sources, like, yeah, man, the Bengals are calling around all these markets. They're like, yeah, we're going to add at all three levels. I wonder what it means to them. And that's what we're going to find out this week, right?

Starting point is 00:14:41 Let's talk about some combinations of players that might work, James. We're going to focus, I think, on the defensive side of the ball. Maybe there's some lip service paid to some depth wide receivers or depth tight ends in your plan, James. I don't know how far long in this process you are. You maybe have thought about it more than me. But as we're discussing what aggressiveness looks like and talking about multiple defensive linemen, linebacker and a safety is kind of where it starts right.

Starting point is 00:15:07 Maybe they explore a corner at some point. I would be surprised, to be honest. That might be a draft pick. It might be a vet minimum guy like a Marco Wilson type, you know, as they did last year. But not the focus, certainly. There's also going to be potentially some talk about Rashon. Gary will see if he gets cut or not.

Starting point is 00:15:29 The Bengals were linked to him. If he does become available, of course, Jerry Montgomery coached him in Green Bay. Right now, he's still a Green Bay Packers. We're recording this. He's going to get cut. There's just no scenario where he doesn't have. James? What do you mean?

Starting point is 00:15:43 Biggest joke ever. They're trying to get like a pick swap or something, and that's just not happening. So, yeah, I think he'll get cut. Yeah. And if he's cut, he's a place. player that at this point looks a lot like Miles Murphy, he would probably fit into, I would guess tier 3, 3.5,

Starting point is 00:16:02 probably 3.5. It's probably a little bit better than Joseph Osai. I have Osai to 3.5. So anyway, Jaylen Phillips, apparently, the Eagles are trying to get him back as we're recording this. Maybe he's re-signed by the time we have folks listening to this. But how high are the Bengals aiming? How high are you aiming?

Starting point is 00:16:21 I think I know where you're starting at the end. edge position, but I'll let you say it. I won't spoil it. Who's your first guy at edge? Yeah. I mean, Adafé OA is the guy that makes a lot of sense to me. He'll be, he'll turn 28 during the season. And maybe it is Jalen Phillips. Like, I'm open to either one of those guys. There's a year apart. You have the Phillips injuries. OA. Why would the Ravens trade him and in all those, Like, there's going to be flaws with all of these guys. Like you mentioned the max thing. Like if they had made that max trade, there would have been major questions and flaws in that plan too, by the way.

Starting point is 00:17:01 So nothing is going to be like concrete. Wow, this is definitely going to work. But these are the waters that they should be swimming in because they have the cap flexibility. They need to hit on one of these guys. And for me, like, O, A, like maybe he isn't this grand slam next tray Hendrickson going to get you double. double digit sacks a year, but can he give you quality production? And I think he can't. I think he's capable of that. And that's what I'm looking at. And so like if you want to sign a Rashan Gary, fine. But that doesn't really move the meter. You're right. Like that's an Osai replacement.

Starting point is 00:17:37 And what, what are you going to do to really move the meter? Like if you signed a Phillips or an OA or John Franklin Myers, well, you can sell me on that potentially working out. And At the same time, especially at Edge, like if you sign O-A, that's not getting in the way of a Rubin Bain. That's not getting in the way of a T.J. Parker in round two like we did in the mock draft last week. Like, that's not impacting your draft plans. Everything I do in free agency would complement any scenario in the draft early in the draft. And so that's why I mentioned kind of how it would be. So yeah, OA for me would be the guy.

Starting point is 00:18:14 Phillips is right there on the tier list. I bump Phillips up. So they're both 1.5s for me. still lean OA. So it'd be like a 1.25 versus a 1.5. Neither one is a tier one straight up. But I think both guys, either one would look really good in stripes. Both could be ascending players. And there's a reason I keep coming back to Phillips. If he's healthy, I think he's clearly the best guy, but there's huge health caveats there, right? And so that's why it's hard. And that's scary. I would probably still try. But OA, I'm actually coming around on a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:18:50 Then probably the last time we talked, the more I've looked at this. He's actually played more in the last couple of years than Trey Hendrickson did before the Bengals signed, Trey Hendrickson. He's played more on a percentage basis against the run, I believe, than Trey did. Nope, I'm wrong. He's played less against the run than Trey did in New Orleans before the Bengals went and got him. He's got a little bit worse past rushing data, of course, than Trey did before the Bengals went and got him.

Starting point is 00:19:22 But if you're not going after Jaylen Phillips, has the good quick pressure numbers, the second best quick pressure number behind Trey Hendrickson in this crop of free agents, one of the higher win rates as a past rusher. But that's where I get to like the Arnold Ebikati tier. And how much cheaper is Arnold Ebikati going to be for a guy who's maybe flying under the radar a little bit because he wasn't on a team that, you know, Bengals fans certainly pay a lot of attention to in the NFC, the Atlanta Falcons, and just hasn't been that good, but has really good pass rushing data, is also young, could be much cheaper. I wonder if you start there, how does it

Starting point is 00:20:01 look? And what are the diverging paths you take if you're doing bigger money for OA versus maybe it's a smaller contract for Evacady? And we're looking for that second guy, right? Because it's multiple steps in this process, not just one guy. But ideally, there's one bigger swing. And it's just a matter of finding where that will be. We'll continue the conversation as to how this defensive line comes together where that big swing might be coming up next. We live in a world where you can stream anything. You can order food in minutes, carry supercomputers in our pockets, and somehow buying tickets to live events. Well, it's tough. It's annoying. It's frustrating. Not anymore. From hidden fees to jumping prices, endless steps, there's a better way in its game time. Throw all of that away, move beyond it

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Starting point is 00:21:38 Use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-E-D-O-N locked-on for $20 off. Download game time today. Before we wrap up, James, just a quick reminder for the Everydayer Club for folks, Lockdown Bengals.com, for all the details for joining the Everydayer Club here with us on Lockedon Bengals. You'll get an ad-free episode. You'll get to hop into the Discord chat where one of our Everydayers just posted a tier list of potential draft picks and get in on the conversation in there where people are ramping up some draft conversation of all things here as we're about to dive into free agency, James.

Starting point is 00:22:18 But again, an ad-free episodes and the group chat on. Discord. You get a free month with promo code free agency at lockdown bengalsout supercast.com. Back to the free agency conversation, James. Let's talk about the second target. And let's just stay on edge. Go ahead. Real quick. Before they, if you could pick a position to make the big swing, what is it? Knowing what's there and what's not. Edge. Yes. And that's why I keep coming. It's not like I'm in love with O.A. But it's just like, Do I want to do that at linebacker? Like safety, I don't think, like even Brian Cook, like the camcourl deal kind of went under the radar.

Starting point is 00:23:00 I'm not sure Brian Cook is going to be the big swing. And I don't think it needs to necessarily be the big swing. If you're going to get him, for example, like big swing. Like that's probably what, 13 to 15 million? Like I don't think that that's necessarily the big swing. And so that's what's interesting. Now, what if the big swing at edges is Mafei and, Epicady, right? And that's where it gets interesting. Like, can you get those two for, I don't know, $28 million in average annual value versus OA at 23? Because then you could tell me on Epicady and Mafet. Like, you do the numbers thing and you go that way. I could totally be down with that. And I might be wrong on the numbers, but you get my point. I agree with you though. You look at like what's there. And as you were describing Epicady, I'm like, yeah, Epicady, give me another one. Like if you're going Epicady, give me another one of that tier.

Starting point is 00:23:52 or better. And if you do that, then you can sell me. So that might be the best way to do this and accomplish this. Because if it's, if it's Oway and then nothing or Epicady and Mafe, well, then I want the latter. Or maybe it's Mafei or Ebatee or, you know, Quitty Pay. I mean, quidip is going down the list a little bit. But one of those guys and Al-Qaeda, and that's your elder journeyman on the wrong side of 30 journeyman because we talked about your davy uncliny I'm so in on clownie I'm so in baby I'm going to get my heart broke but come on clownie come to cincey they've never shown interest there right let's let's eat that graders ice yeah I'm sick of you hitting joe burrow come hit some guys for me that that aren't joe burrow and then of course

Starting point is 00:24:40 there's camp Jordan that will be the other guy to mention here but al-cadim bahamad has probably gone under the radar a little bit as far as the guy that actually got after the past Somebody who's in my DMs the other day, James asked me why I wasn't talking about Josh Uche. I think Josh Uche is just maybe too much of a DPR for them. I don't know if they're going to see him as a size kind of guy that's going to be able to do multiple things. But, you know, if you're talking about the secondary guy, sure, Cameron Thomas, the secondary guy, sure. Some of those guys might be interesting. But Al Qadimah Muhammad is the name that we wanted to get out there.

Starting point is 00:25:12 Dremont Jones. I know he's been discussed quite a bit by Paul Deneer Jr., James. as a guy that on pass rushing downs can kind of line up over the tackle, kick inside a little bit. We're talking about a lot of Ravens. Talking about a lot of Ravens.

Starting point is 00:25:27 And the Ravens just made a big swing to improve their pass rush. Yeah, I know. Just interesting. That's all. I'm not saying it's wrong. It doesn't change how I feel about O-A, but yeah, it's that part's interesting.

Starting point is 00:25:39 What about O-A, who is much more successful when he left Baltimore. Yeah, which I think is interesting. Like, that's a big part of why I'm sort of interested in him. What about, and I just think people are going to mention him as O'Jolari as the second guy? Or would he just be a camp body? Can he make the team type guy? Like, I don't think he almost qualifies as a second guy at this point, even though he's young.

Starting point is 00:26:04 Yeah, what happened? Was he hurt last year? Like, when you only play 67 snaps, you're not counting on that guy for anything the next year, unless somebody was skins on the wall. Yeah, he, well, he went to, yeah, I think he. was hurt because he only played in three games but he went to philly and it was like oh like that's that's a weird situation there and it just yeah a blast from the past name collie karene played more snaps last year than aziz ojolari ohjolari represented by john thornton though the the local tie have to have to mention it because you just never know if you're now looking at a let's get off of edge so ideally two guys here

Starting point is 00:26:38 if it's away then you're probably talking about like the ojolari uche lower tier second signing I'm real curious to see. Clowny should still be in the mix, though, there. Like, you know, like that's the one where like Clowny still. Anyway, go ahead. I wonder about the budget. I wonder how many dollars they want to tie up here. I wonder if they do think that they can get two mid-tier guys.

Starting point is 00:26:59 And I wonder if Maffa and Evaceti will even be mid-tier guys. I think there are some pretty lofty contract projections from Maffa coming off of a Super Bowl win. That can definitely inflate the prices of certain players. We've seen that in the past plenty of times. And he's coming from that Seattle defense where, as we talk about safety, which is a position that Jeremy Fowler called out as a bengal sniffing around the top of the market, Kobe Bryant's going to be a name for a lot of people in Cincinnati ties, obviously. I am very gun shy about former Mike McDonald's safeties at this point.

Starting point is 00:27:32 That's a good point. I wonder if they'll be in Brian Cook. And with Cam Curle returning to the Rams, that was a guy that I would have really liked to have targeted that ended up making, what, $15 million or so? maybe that was an up to, but that was the name that really stood out to me, James. This is a place where they're going to add a guy. It sounds like it sounds like they're done trying to find the $4 million safety. They realize the error of their ways. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:27:59 Who stands out to you here? Yeah. Brian Cook, naturally, is the one that stands out to me. I just think he's 27 now played a ton of football, high leverage games at the University of Cincinnati, championship games, college football, playoff type games. And then he goes to the Chiefs and instantly plays right away, instantly is in these high leverage situations. Obviously gave up that big play to Jemar Chase that was ages ago at the time.

Starting point is 00:28:25 But you think about it, Jemar's doubled it. He makes a hell of a play in the AFC title game. And he's coming off the best year of his career where he really played well, didn't miss many tackles. And just to me, it's like, all right, well, he can be your stabilizer or he can give you half of the best safety tandem in the league if Caleb Downs

Starting point is 00:28:44 happens to fall into your lap at 10. So like all of those reasons makes a ton of sense. I think the

Starting point is 00:28:51 floor of the safety room is so much higher with Brian Cook and yet he's still potentially ascending as a player.

Starting point is 00:28:59 And so that's, I think that's the safest. You want to talk about safe and like stabilizing and working out,

Starting point is 00:29:05 I don't really see how that wouldn't work out. And so Brian Cook is where it starts for me. Obviously not where it ends.

Starting point is 00:29:11 There are some other guys that you're probably going to mention. But I'm really locked in here on Brian Cook. And I keep pointing this out because I think it's unique. The downtown skyline, as in the building skyline, not the company, not the restaurant, is Brian Cook's ex background. He's from Mount Healthy. He went to Mount Healthy.

Starting point is 00:29:31 He went to the University of Cincinnati. You might be able to get him for maybe a little less, which the Bengals would certainly be open to doing if you can. Yeah, maybe 500,000 less. per year, which when you say it out loud, that's a lot of money. But maybe it's $42 million over the, you know,

Starting point is 00:29:49 $42 million deal over 45 for the Jets. Like if I'm Brian Cook, I don't touch the Jets, but that's the other landing spot Fowler mentioned. Maybe also he would be an animal to the Bengals contract structure. More than anything, I think that's what we're talking about for some of these guys is how many of them are looking for year two guarantees? Do the Bengals realize

Starting point is 00:30:05 oh, we need to do a year two guarantee this year? It's time. We haven't talked about it very much, James, but it's something that we could talking about over the next week. Brian Cook, probably the best tackler of the available safeties. I think Jalen Thompson is going to be in that conversation as well.

Starting point is 00:30:23 Nick Cross certainly has some fans out there. I'm personally shying away from Kobe Bryant based on the Mike McDonald connection, tackling issues that he had in Seattle. Jalen Hawkins, very interesting to me, a late breakout player who led the Patriots to making a big change at their safety position. Jaquam Brisker is another one that's near the top here of our tier list,

Starting point is 00:30:49 27 years old. And again, if they're looking for the guy who's going to be tackler, some man capability, Brisker and Cross, and those two guys probably are the ones they're considering. The all-round guy, yeah, is Brian Cook. But if they go Brian Cook, James, we're not talking about Adafi-OA for the Bengals at this point. If we're being realistic about it, I think it's one of those two guys.

Starting point is 00:31:12 I think I'm not sure we're talking about O.A anyway. I think I'm talking about O.A. Yeah. That's not like a. Yeah. When I'm pushing it, it doesn't necessarily mean like that's what I've heard. I do think that they're in on Brian Cook.

Starting point is 00:31:26 I think that's a very different discussion for them because they would look at it and say we can get Maffa and Cook for the same price as OA. But like OA may sign a four-year $100 million deal. Like that is not out of the question by any change. stretch for for him so we'll see especially if by the time people are listening to this jalen phillips has resigned in philly i'm not saying that's happened i'm trying to keep an eye on what's going on but uh there there's a report from jeremy fowler before we started recording that they were trying to bring him back last position james before we get out of here is going to be defensive interior uh well we have to get

Starting point is 00:32:01 to lineback too i guess defensive interior we talked about quite a bit john franklin meires at the top of this market the next which is interesting guys to me logan hall is is the young guy that i think we would like to see them target as far as the people that are working on the tier list. The reunion with DJ Reader will be interesting. A one-year flyer on David O'Neumeta or Callias Campbell would be interesting. And then I think we've talked about Javon Hargrave quite a bit as well as the past rushing type of guy who at this point in his career is kind of all he is. He's a pass rusher. Fine.

Starting point is 00:32:31 I need it. Yeah. I need it. They do need that on the interior. I think we could. There's not a whole lot of options. We'll see if they go down the list here on the defensive interior, whoever they end up signing will, of course, get you the full breakdown.

Starting point is 00:32:47 What do you got? Real quick, Duke Tobin didn't mention, I was like reviewing things before the show, did mention we need to be able to stop the run to get into past rush situations. Yeah. And I do wonder if they would just say, hey, you know what? We have one more year, T.J. Slayton, DJ Reader still playing well. Let's get him. And then maybe B.J. Hill can give us a little juice there.

Starting point is 00:33:09 maybe it unlocks Chris Jenkins a little bit. And who knows, maybe we find that guy in the draft, that pass rush three tech type of guy. Like maybe they go that route and say we are definitely going to stop the run in our edge spot. You know, we kick Jamar in at times or whatever. Like I could see that. So I just want to mention that as a scenario where maybe they say,

Starting point is 00:33:30 we're not in on Logan Hall. DJ Reader's the better player. We're going to go with him. We're really going to stop the run and go that route. Just throwing that out there when it comes to defense. defensive line, defensive tackle. Maybe it's a trade. Maybe that's a pipe dream.

Starting point is 00:33:45 Let's wrap up with linebacker James, where Leo Chanel remains a player that I think is the most logical fit for the Bengals, perhaps in all of free agency. But do they go with the veteran with the ties to the linebacker coach in DeMario Davis or DeMario Davis's peers? We talked about a lot of the linebackers, I think, in our most recent episode before this one, Devin Bush potentially a guy that they will know well

Starting point is 00:34:08 because of his experience in the division. Caden Ellis, again, ties to the Bengals linebacker coach. Does anybody else stand out to you as a potential guy that could be interested in? Oh, yeah. Nicobi Dean is the same age as Demet. So there's that. Well, I would be open to Nicklebe Dean.

Starting point is 00:34:28 I just think of Quay Walker, man. I just think of Quay Walker. And I think about the big swing. And I think about 2022 and everyone puts these defensive linemen. And the Jerry Montgomery bucket, well, where was Jerry Montgomery in 2022 when Quay Walker got the town? Like, that does matter because he's going to know about that guy. The one I think is kind of interesting is Edmonds, released by the Bears. Like could potentially give you a little juice there and do some of those things.

Starting point is 00:34:58 He's an athletic, really athletic guy, proven guy, 100 plus tackles in all eight years, I believe it is of his career. If you want to go that route, you could. wouldn't count against the compensatory pick process, but I am kind of fearful, Jake, that the big swing is going to be like a Koi Walker, be a big, big time linebacker. And it's a really good draft for linebacker.

Starting point is 00:35:20 I think you can get a stabilizing linebacker, likely O'Shenaul without breaking the bank. And I want to break the bank on edge. Break the bank on edge, man. Break that piggy bank, slow, slam it down, sell that Chevy, put it all in, all in on the edge position.

Starting point is 00:35:35 Got to get those extra five grand out. of that Chevy. Yeah, I mean, linebacker, I'm looking for the, yeah, I don't want to see them spend a ton of money here.

Starting point is 00:35:45 Like, I'm very happy to see it be Leo Chanel. I'm very happy to see it be one of these veterans we've talked about the, you know, the Bobby Wagner's,

Starting point is 00:35:53 the DiMario Davis tier linebacker, the elder guy who's going to help to bring your guys along, still can play football at a high level, even if they've lost the stuff. Like, much more interested there

Starting point is 00:36:04 than I'm interested in to Quay Walker who might be one of the, guys that I'm more fearful of overpaying on the open market. But they will add there. I think it's just a question of what direction do they go? And would you, would you be open to Edmonds? I would be pretty fearful of Terell, Tremaine Edmunds, sorry, Tremaine Edmonds, Tarel, his brother of the place safety. Yeah, I just don't see it pushing them in the right direction. I don't see it really raising the floor of that room. And that's what I'm interested in. Like it probably helps a little bit, right?

Starting point is 00:36:39 But not a guy that I don't know, depends on what he costs. Not a guy that I don't think he's going to cost a lot. That's right. I assume he won't cost a lot, but maybe he will. I don't know. You still got that first round pedigree, right? And those things stay with players. But yeah, getting cut.

Starting point is 00:36:56 It certainly doesn't help things. Just want a guy that's a little bit more versatile. Sure. A little bit more going to be able to bring guys along kind of thing. And maybe Tramaine Edmins is this player. And I just don't know. Maybe he has a consummate pro who can help bring the guys along. But that's why we're talking about some of the 30 plus year olds here,

Starting point is 00:37:16 33 plus year olds, 35 plus year olds at linebacker specifically, at least for me. Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be wild. We'll see what they do. Obviously, we're going to have you covered every single step of the way. Buckle up. Jake, no dates this week or all the dates.

Starting point is 00:37:34 I'm not sure which. But that's an Orlando. Brown Jr. reference. Free agency is always fun and it's, uh, it's been crazy. Last year sucked. It's not going to be like last year. They're going to do a lot, Jake. Get ready. Excited to see how they inconvenience us this year. I hope it's going to do it to this episode. Inconvenience us. Do it now. I'm planning to be home tomorrow. And as soon as I leave, that's going to do it for this episode of the lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening.

Starting point is 00:38:05 Huda and have a good one.

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